Børn fortæller, at de er blevet tvunget til at se på, mens deres mødre blev voldtaget og dræbt. Ofte er børnene også selv blevet seksuelt misbrugt, inden de tog flugten og ankom til Nimba i Liberia.
DAKAR, 8 April 2011 (IRIN) – A woman told Equip staff she was forced to watch while armed men raped her four-year-old daughter. Most attacks have taken place outside villages as people tried to flee, or at checkpoints, refugees said.
Refugees say sexual assaults have been committed by both armed supporters of Laurent Gbagbo and of Alassane Ouattara, as well as militia members at checkpoints, and to a lesser extent, opportunists who have preyed on refugees’ vulnerability.
Equip is working in 23 clinics in Nimba Country to assist survivors of sexual violence and abuse in getting the medical and psychosocial attention they need.
Sexual violence has become increasingly prevalent in Côte d’Ivoire over the past decade, Human Rights Watch (HRW) senior West Africa researcher, Corinne Dufka told IRIN.
“During times of political upheaval sexual violence has a clear political link, but unfortunately the general sense of lawlessness in Côte d’Ivoire for the past decade has led to a disturbing increase in sexual violence countrywide.”
HRW has documented over 20 cases of politically motivated rape by pro-Gbagbo military forces in which the ethnic and political element was clearly identifiable, as well as reports of what appear to be politically motivated rape by Ouattara supporters, Dufka told IRIN. The organization has also documented extra-judicial killings perpetrated by supporters on both sides, stating that some incidents “risk becoming a crime against humanity should it become widespread or systematic”.
Læs videre på: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92417
